Tickborne Diseases Researcher Anya O’Neal Joins MMI as Assistant Professor

Anya O’Neal, PhD, has joined the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology as an assistant professor. O'Neal is an immunologist and vector biologist who studies how ticks acquire and transmit human pathogens, including the causative agent of Lyme disease.

Born and raised in Maryland, O'Neal earned a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She conducted her PhD studies in the lab of Joao Pedra, PhD, MSc, where she characterized an immune signaling pathway in ticks. After obtaining her PhD, she moved to New York City and conducted her postdoctoral studies in the lab of Justin Perry, PhD, MA, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In the Perry lab she investigated mechanisms of apoptotic cell clearance by macrophages. 

O'Neal has published 17 research articles and reviews in journals including PNAS, Nature Microbiology, and Nature Metabolism.